24HR THREAD! Should 2014 be Hodges' last year?

[Big Pete]

Bulldogs (x2)
Cowboys
Dragons
Tigers
Sea Eagles

vs

Knights
Titans
Raiders
Warriors

Only game he was close to being the difference in, in those victories, was against the Titans.

The two losses without him was against the Warriors in NZ where we lost Gillo early and Copley copped a knock before full-time and the Chooks.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Slow
Injury Prone
Selfish and doesn't pass
Negative when players make a balls up
Not a captain
Copley is playing better

Retire

Pretty much sums it up. Hodgeo seems to only want to lift for representative duties now. Signing on to a 2 year deal wasn't smart by him or the club.

Hang up the boots, Hodgeo. You have nothing to prove.

 

[Morkel]

[MENTION=1917]Ari Gold[/MENTION], if I didn't know how cluey you were, I'd swear you were oblivious to Hodges' decline. We're not talking a gradual decline here, we'll I'm not anyway. He'd done great to recover from all his other previous injuries. Like I said, he was still a massive force last year. But this last one has wrecked him, it's like his ability has fallen off a cliff.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Well IMO we do - in terms of genuine centres, we have Reed (who I still believe is serviceable), Copley, and Kahu.

WTF...? I was sure you were a Justin fanboy. How can you seriously suggest that he can be replaced by the likes of Reed?

Copley will be one centre, you need to have two.

I vote no. We simply don't have the same class of player waiting to replace him.

 

[Ari Gold]

@Ari Gold, if I didn't know how cluey you were, I'd swear you were oblivious to Hodges' decline. We're not talking a gradual decline here, we'll I'm not anyway. He'd done great to recover from all his other previous injuries. Like I said, he was still a massive force last year. But this last one has wrecked him, it's like his ability has fallen off a cliff.

I don't think it's a massive decline in his ability, I think it is made to look worse because of how poorly we play as a unit, and the disruptive way it effects Hodges, who through his desire and passion ends up doing stupid things. I think a change in halves and coaches will still have him be a quality player for us. If Hodges is as bad as you are claiming he is now, then how could he have such a good game in Origin 3?

And, even if he were to fall off a cliff to a depth lower than the Marianas Trench, I still think he's better than Reed.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Hodges career in the can because of Vidot's dropped ball.....? FMD

Vidot scores and Hodgo's a football god once again. Fickle crowd indeed.

I just read that he's likely to be our fullback for the next 3 games ......that must be infuriating to some I s'pose. :crazy:

 

[Kimlo]

To me, Hodges is still our best back, our most dangerous player too. The critics are judging him way too harshly, Copley may have been good but what did he do against the Rabbitohs? Or Reed for that matter? Hodges outplayed them both.

I think this whole Hodges overplaying his hand is hugely overstated. He's one of our best players so of course he's going to be involved in more play. He was more likely to set up a try than Hunt was yesterday, that says a lot considering he's a centre.

The injury prone line is also being overused, how many games has he missed this year?

Bring on a brilliant 2015 from the great man.

 

[Broncoman]

Hodges maybe injury prone and at the backend of his career and everyone has to retire but he has still been one of our most important and dangerous players this year just like he was last year. The guy bleeds Maroon and Gold and has the competitive spirit in his game which I love and believe all players should play like that.

He has played Origin's, tests, won a premiership, is club captain and many young players look up to him. I believe he can still go on for another couple of years if lucky. It would find it beneficial for him if he stood down from rep and focused on the Broncos more. The possibility of injuries is higher in rep games and it would be a massive blow for us and him if he had to be out long term.

 

[Alec]

If Bennett brought Gagai with him, then Id be all for Hodges retiring.

 

[Unbreakable]

If Bennett brought Gagai with him, then Id be all for Hodges retiring.

True, Gagai wouldn't be on massive money either, that would be amazing.

1. Milford
2. Boyd
3. Copley
4. Gagai
5. Hoffman
6. Barba
7. Hunt

Salary cap might be an issue, lol.

 

[Big Pete]

The critics are judging him way too harshly, Copley may have been good but what did he do against the Rabbitohs? Or Reed for that matter? Hodges outplayed them both.

You would have to ask Morkel but I doubt this thread came about all because of one game, I'm sure this is something that has been in the back of his mind ever since 2010 when Hodges suffered the ruptured achillies and played no part in the season.

Since that point Hodges has missed...

10/27 games in 2011
7/25 in 2012
10/24 in 2013

and so far

8/21

That's over a third of the season.

And you know a few of those games he came back he probably got injured mid-game or rushed himself back so he may as well never played in the first place.

The problem with Hodges isn't so much his ability to go and play the quasi fullback role. He's good when he does that and I thought he played well against the Rabbitohs and it was probably his best performance for the Broncos all year. It's his play at right centre where he doesn't pose any threat for his opposite in general play and has a habit of running it at a crucial time which completely renders one side of the field basically useless since they're a key man short.

It makes the attack predictible because you know it's got to go left and if he doesn't then it's very easy to take either Gillett or Copley.

 

[Morkel]

Hodges career in the can because of Vidot's dropped ball.....? FMD

Vidot scores and Hodgo's a football god once again. Fickle crowd indeed.

I just read that he's likely to be our fullback for the next 3 games ......that must be infuriating to some I s'pose. :crazy:

Come back to Earth please. I made this thread before the game, remember.

This time last year I was happy for him to play for years, but this year has been depressing for a Hodges fan. There have been many games over the years where he's tried too hard and it's cost us. But there was always more upside, mostly because we kind of sucked everywhere and he was our only real weapon.

That's no longer the case. Hunt & Copley are genuine weapons. Barba's improved. With field position and pressure, we have points in us. Playing as a team. Hodges just seems to disrupt that now. Low-percentage plays that look brilliant when they come off but give the opposition great field position when they don't. There's a difference between spotting an opportunity and going for it, and trying to make something out of nothing out of frustration, and Hodges has been going for the latter too often.

Even if he were an asset more often than not, he doesn't have long left. His game doesn't suit genuine teamwork, yet when he retires it's teamwork that is going to be our means to improve. So why waste a year dragging the team in a direction that is the opposite of our long term plan? Add that to the fact that he's missing for many games and it's just chaos. One week we're seeing combinations improve, cohesion paying dividends, and a glimpse at how it helps consistency. The next week Hodgo comes in and tries to do it all on his own and his team-mates are made to feel like sub-par hindrances to his one-man army.

Reed is no where near the player Hodges is, but he's at least got 20 games a year in him and can follow orders.

Griffin has been criticised for picking favourites. Because he can't see the big picture and move forward. How many are guilty of the same thing here?

 

[Bucking Beads]

My issue with Hodges is he breaks down so many backline plays because he has his dummy half runs on the 4th tackle all the bloody time.

 

[Mr Fourex]

That would be news to me because the majority of the time I watched Dale in the NYC he was playing on the right hand side.

He could very well prefer the left, but he was adept at both sides and has been as strong either side of the field so far this season.

OK....so tell me again why we shouldn't have both Copley and Hodges playing in the centres.?

 

[Mr Fourex]

If Bennett brought Gagai with him, then Id be all for Hodges retiring.

^^ This^^

....maybe.

But to say Hodges should retire to make way for Jack Reed, is all kinds of fucked up bullshit.

 

[Big Pete]

As I pointed out later, I was disagreeing with the notion that Dale had yet to play on the right hand side until he played first grade.

As for the original point, I didn't have an issue with Copley having to play left. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is we've got all this money tied up in a bloke who seems to only make a difference against the also-rans of the competition. That's great and all but I want to build a team that can BEAT the best.

Tying that money into a bunch of has-beens is holding this club back.

What's that line about Ringo Starr?

"He's not even the best centre at the club!"

Yep, right now Copley has had a better season in the centres. Easily.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Come back to Earth please. I made this thread before the game, remember.

This time last year I was happy for him to play for years, but this year has been depressing for a Hodges fan. There have been many games over the years where he's tried too hard and it's cost us. But there was always more upside, mostly because we kind of sucked everywhere and he was our only real weapon.

That's no longer the case. Hunt & Copley are genuine weapons. Barba's improved. With field position and pressure, we have points in us. Playing as a team. Hodges just seems to disrupt that now. Low-percentage plays that look brilliant when they come off but give the opposition great field position when they don't. There's a difference between spotting an opportunity and going for it, and trying to make something out of nothing out of frustration, and Hodges has been going for the latter too often.

Even if he were an asset more often than not, he doesn't have long left. His game doesn't suit genuine teamwork, yet when he retires it's teamwork that is going to be our means to improve. So why waste a year dragging the team in a direction that is the opposite of our long term plan? Add that to the fact that he's missing for many games and it's just chaos. One week we're seeing combinations improve, cohesion paying dividends, and a glimpse at how it helps consistency. The next week Hodgo comes in and tries to do it all on his own and his team-mates are made to feel like sub-par hindrances to his one-man army.

Reed is no where near the player Hodges is, but he's at least got 20 games a year in him and can follow orders.

Griffin has been criticised for picking favourites. Because he can't see the big picture and move forward. How many are guilty of the same thing here?

No....I'm guilty of being realistic. Because the reality is, there is no-one sitting out a game who deserves to be there ahead of Justin Hodges. You want to replace Hodges for Reed...you're off your head.

All you've written above is simply cherry picked to prop up your musing ....and that's all it really is. Thought's concocted from spending too much time contemplating the universe that sits inside your navel.

and the damning "fact" presented, is some ransom percentage of games won vs lost with him in or out of the team.....pffft! I wonder what the percentage is of those lost games is when the middle of the ruck's defence parted like the red sea......or opportunities squandered from bad handling........or the fact that our young super star half back still goes MIA when the team is relying on him most. You're probably right....Hodges does try to do too much at times. You'd also most likely find it's done out of frustration because no one else is doing anything.

Nope I'm sorry Morks, you've scapegoated the wrong player for this year's demise.......

I'd take a closer look at our defence structure and look at how poor it's become.....and then look around at the about time it started going down hill.

Stephen Kearney......leave the Island, you useless ****.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Tying that money into a bunch of has-beens is holding this club back.

A bunch....?

Let's talk about the other has-beens. Who else is about to feel the cold steel of Morkels erect and waiting sword?

What we do have a bunch of....is average to mediocre footballers, who will fill a slot, but none have the amount of class and ability that Justin Hodges still holds in his big toe.